Hi everyone

I’m making a recipe and it says to use 1 box of the roux. Using a whole box seems like alot. Does it mean the whole box or 1 square

What other way can I make vegetarian japanese curry? With or without the roux

  • CTDummy@aussie.zoneEnglish
    24·
    6 days ago

    Go to an Asian grocer and get the House Java curry blocks. It’ll pretty much ruin the golden curry roux cubes for you.

    Edit: I usually cut the roux cubes up and mix it with boiling water in a bowl and whisk it to avoid lumps. Here’s a recipe I use as a base (but in a pressure cooker). Isn’t vego but can be modified. Makes heaps of great curry.

    • Kojichan@lemmy.world
      1·
      3 days ago

      Lol. The box says “Jawa curry”. Didn’t know Jawa’s ate curry.

      ahem

      I’m not a fan of House Foods curry, outside of Vermont. My favorite are the S&B Kamakuro curry. Much tastier than the S&B Golden, IMO.

      Kamakuro tend to have more curry flavor, slightly sweeter, and aren’t as aggressively spicy. Super delish. Not like the western beefy gravy flavor of the Golden Curry.

      Make a half box of roux with bite-sized ingredients (omit meat or replace with more veg), then super thicken JUST the sauce to make a yummy filling for Curry Pan.

    • Meron35@lemmy.world
      9·
      6 days ago

      Some Japanese people swear by adding some chocolate to curry.

      After trying it, they’re not wrong.

      • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
        6·
        6 days ago

        Like a chunk of a candy bar, or unsweetened cocoa powder? Because the powder is pretty cool for other things, too. I put a couple heaping tablespoons in my Chili. It gives it a richer, molé vibe.

      • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.world
        2·
        5 days ago

        Chocolate is one of my seven secret herbs and spices in my chili. It really bams up the bitter flavor in a nice way, without giving an over-weaseled texture to he dish.

        Bam!

        • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.world
          1·
          5 days ago

          Hey that was my comment gimme back my comment.

          Um try… Fuck I don’t want to give away all my secret ingredients and I don’t want to get out of bed.

          I think we’re all fancy enough here to make our own chili paste out of peppers instead of using default McCormick bullshit chili powder. My default 5 gallon pot uses around 4 new Mexicos (fruity), 3 anchos (earthy), 2 Californias (I forget it’s late)and 4 or 5 arbols (heat). Boil some water in the kettle, put it in a pot and steep for 15. Put on some gloves, pull the stems and as many seeds as you’d like and then puree a blender. In short :Figure out whatever ratio of peppers you like (your nose is your best guide. Put your final blend together before you soak and smell em. That’s what you will get) , then figure out how much you add to how much chili you’re making. Measure, document, measure, document, &c. so’s the next time you don’t waste as much. If you didn’t make enough chili paste, go ahead and add a little chili powder it won’t overpower what you made, but like homemade is better.

          Some people may argue about beans. Fuck em. They can enjoy your bean stew while we have your chili.

      • GalacticHero@lemmy.world
        6·
        6 days ago

        It’s much less spicy than most other curry. Even the “hot” versions are like barely detectable heat. It also often has apple and honey added for sweetness, and I would say it’s saucier than other curries. It’s good if you approach it as its own thing, but very different from like a British-style curry and even more different from anything you would find in India.

        The product in the picture is a curry roux block, which looks a bit like a big Hershey chocolate bar with squares that can be broken off. It’s like a sauce concentrate. You start cooking your meat and vegetables in a pot, add just enough water to cover everything, then add cubes of roux. The roux has everything necessary to make a complete sauce, but lots of home cooks have their own blend of things they add to adjust, like the aforementioned grated apple and honey, or ginger, garlic, mirin, tonkatsu sauce, etc.

      • CTDummy@aussie.zoneEnglish
        3·
        6 days ago

        Imo it taste much better and the texture is better too, more “velvety”. There are variants of the photo that are sweeter/have apple flavour. I like the stock standard Java stuff. I added a link to the recipe I started with initially in the original comment since there’s a few of replies.

      • Grass@sh.itjust.works
        2·
        6 days ago

        I’m not sure how to describe it, but its way different from my expectations and I feel like one day I’ll eat or drink something and say “it tastes kinda like japanese curry”

    • ragebutt@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      2·
      5 days ago

      Confirm Java is the best roux one can reasonably get outside of Japan

      My additions to the box recipe: I cut the veg a bit smaller, I brown the veg a bit (including potatoes, but you have to have a dry starchy potato type like russet for this to work otherwise precooking it will lead to it just becoming mush during the boil and thickening the sauce), add honey and some kind of neutral hot sauce because Japanese “spicy” is like not even a little spicy. I actually now use one of those ultra extreme spicy 10 billion scoville capsicum extract sauces, literally a few drops in a pot makes it decently spicy and otherwise adds no flavor.

      Unless you live alone you might as well make the whole box in one recipe imo. It keeps for several days, reheats easily, and it’s one of those “tastes better day 2 and 3” kind of meals. The only thing is that freezing it doesn’t work so well (sort of). Freezing busts up the cell walls in the potatoes so even if you use a dry starchy potato like above it will turn to mush once you thaw and reheat. It’s not bad, but it does change the texture with a thicker sauce and much less potato “chunks” (some bits usually survive).

      The only better thing I’ve found is to make a roux from scratch but honestly it’s not that much better (and probably worse until you dial it in) but a lot more work. The roux is like $4 a box at my local market and making it is like an entire Saturday plus way more money in ingredients especially if you don’t have a well stocked spice rack